PARK RIDGE—Flags and banners celebrating “national commemorative months” will likely soon be flown at a “celebratory dedicated area” near the Borough Hall, according to an ordinance approved at the June 28 Borough Council meeting.
Council approved the ordinance 5-0. Councilman Matthew Capilli was absent. No public comments were made at the hearing June 28, said the borough clerk.
“A Celebratory Flag or Banner dedicated to the flying of the flags or banner of National Commemorative Months shall be erected on an appropriate Borough site near the Municipal Building. The Council shall determine, from time to time by resolution, which national commemoration shall be celebrated during a calendar month by flying and/or displaying the representative flag and/or banner of the National Commemorative Month so selected,” reads the ordinance.
The ordinance notes, “No flags nor banners other than those representing National Commemorative Months shall be permitted to be flown or displayed on the Borough’s Celebratory Dedicated Area.”
Borough Clerk Maggie Giandomenico said that councilman William Fenwick had previously expressed concern about whether the borough might be forced to fly flags or hang banners that they did not support, since a Pride banner had been hung during June in recent years.
She said Borough Attorney John Schettino said that if the town has a policy in place limiting the flags that can be flown on municipal property, the borough should be safe from lawsuits challenging the policy.
She said the new policy “streamlines the process” of what commemorative months to celebrate based on current federal guidance.
Giandomenico provided a document listing approved federal “special emphasis observances” that cites the federal laws, executive orders, and proclamations approving the observances.
According to the National Archives, the agency has established “special emphasis observances” to celebrate cultural awareness. Some examples include the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; African American Heritage; Women’s History; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal Rights; Asian-Pacific Americans; Women’s Equality Day; Hispanic Americans; People With Disabilities; and American Indian/Alaskan Native Heritage.
The national observances span eight months of the year, not including April, July, August, and December.
Whether to fly the Pride Flag during Gay Pride Month in June, as well as other celebratory or commemorative flags, has been a sore point throughout Pascack Valley towns. Some display flags while others have chosen to only display the U.S. flag, and non-controversial government flags.
Recently, Woodcliff Lake decided only to fly the U.S. Flag after concerns were raised about flying other flags, including the Pride flag and a Right-to-Life flag, on municipal property.
Also, a few years back, Montvale considered flying the Pride Flag but following controversy over limiting other flags that the borough did not wish to fly, decided to only allow the U.S. Flag to be flown on borough flagpoles and property.
The flags permitted under Woodcliff Lake’s ordinance include: the United States of America; the State of New Jersey; the U.S. Armed Forces; Bergen County; the Borough of Woodcliff Lake; and borough departments.
The ordinance also provides guidelines for flying the U.S. flag at half-staff in memoriam for government leaders, first responders, and members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Some Bergen County towns also fly the P.O.W. M.I.A. flag for unrecovered war veterans, and sometimes the state flag and other local government flags. All flags permitted on municipal property or flagpoles are generally spelled out in local ordinances.
In recent years, some towns including Montvale and Woodcliff Lake have maintained that flying one commemorative flag — such as the Pride flag — opens them up to possible legal challenges for refusing to fly another more controversial banner such as the Confederate flag or right-to-life flag.
At press time, no lawsuits had been filed in any Pascack Valley town on the issue.